Senator Lucie Pépin

Born in Saint-Jean d'Iberville, Senator Pepin studied nursing with a specialization in obstetrics and gynecology. Her early career focused on women's health, leading to a lifelong dedication to social justice and human rights advocacy, with a special emphasis on women and children. She was appointed to the Senate in April 1997.

Education:Diploma in Nursing Sciences, 1959 ; Post-graduate Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1960, University of Montreal.

Career - Public Sector:

Member, Appeal Division, National Parole Board, 1993-97.

Member of the Panel Appointed to Review the Temporary Absence Program for Penitentiary Inmates, 1991 (Pepino Report, March 1992)

Member, Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing, 1989-92.

Member of the House of Commons - Outremont, 1984-88.

Member, Special House of Commons Committee on Child Care, 1986-87.

Vice-President (1979-81) and President (1981-84) of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

Member of the Badgley Committee on Sexual Offences Against Children, 1980-1983.

National Co-ordinator, Canadian Committee for Fertility Research, 1972-79.

Representative and advisor to the World Health Organization, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations as well as the Population Council, 1972-79.

National Coordinator, Badgley Commission on the Application of the Abortion Law, 1975-77.

Responsible for the coordination of country-wide lobbying efforts to formally recognize the rights of women in the Canadian Constitution and spokesperson for freedom of choice.

Career - Health Care:

Nurse, pioneer in family planning in Canada.Responsible for the coordination of lobbying efforts, at the national and provincial levels, securing legislation guaranteeing women's rights to contraception and to medical authorisation for themselves and their children.

Senate Responsibilities:

Pro Tempore Speaker of the Senate (October 2002 to October 2004).

Deputy Whip (1998 to 2000).

Senate Sponsor of Bill C-23, an Act to modernize the Statutes of Canada in relation to benefits and obligations (2000)

Member of the Special Senate Committee on Security and Intelligence (report -1999)

Member of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (1998 and 2000 ).

Co-Chair of the Special Joint Committee to Amend Section 93 of the 1867 Constitution on Quebec School Reform (1997).

Member of the Special Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access (1997-98).